Final answer:
The statement not characteristic of middle to late childhood is that rates of physical growth become more rapid, as most physical growth occurs during infancy and adolescence, not during middle to late childhood.
Step-by-step explanation:
The aspect which is not a hallmark of middle to late childhood is 4) Rates of physical growth become more rapid.
In detail, most of the physical growth in humans occurs during infancy and slows down during the rest of childhood until adolescence. During the middle to late childhood stage, which typically covers the ages of six to eleven years, children do experience cognitive, social, and emotional development, but not rapid physical growth.
During this period, children's cognitive skills such as greater reasoning ability and flexibility of thought improve, and they become capable of processing complex ideas like cause-and-effect relationships. Also, their ability to control emotional outbursts gets better, and peer relationships gain in importance. However, any significant increase in the rate of physical growth is generally not observed until adolescence, which is marked by the onset of puberty.